1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a navigation system, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for setting a destination in a navigation terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In common, a navigation system is a system for informing a driver of a moving body, such as a vessel, an airplane, or a vehicle, of a current position of the moving body and calculating an optimum route to a desired destination, and guiding the driver along the optimum route.
The navigation system can be constructed with a client-server structure including a navigation server for providing a navigation service or data needed to the navigation service, and a user navigation terminal for using the navigation service provided by the navigation server.
The navigation server provides a current position and a route to a position desired by a user, various kinds of data corresponding to the navigation service, or data needed to the navigation service. The navigation terminal downloads a route or various kinds of navigation service data from the navigation server using an exclusively produced navigation program and provides the route or various kinds of navigation service data to the user, or provides the navigation service without the navigation server.
Since the navigation system can be linked to a mobile communication network, the various kinds of data provided by the navigation server can be transmitted to the navigation terminal via the mobile communication network, and moreover, the navigation terminal can perform mobile communication. The navigation terminal also can access the navigation server via the mobile communication network and request the navigation server for various kinds of services or data.
The navigation system is available on the market, providing user-friendliness. In particular, a function of calculating and providing a route between a current position and a specific position can help a navigation user arrive at a destination. To calculate the route, coordinates of the current position and coordinates of the specific position, i.e., the destination, are required. A navigation terminal using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver included in the navigation terminal or a user input can set the current position coordinates. However, the destination position coordinates can be set only by a user input. The user input for the destination position coordinates can be achieved by directly inputting an address of the destination, or searching previously stored map data and selecting the destination.
When the destination is set, the destination position coordinates should be correctly input using a correct address or navigation terminal-recognizable data. This means that the user should know the correct address or a geographical position of the destination. Thus, if the user does not know the address of the destination or the correct geographical position of the destination, or if the destination is not a specific region or feature, for example, if the destination is a certain position of a highway or the mid-slope of a certain mountain, it is difficult to set the destination.